EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY ACT.

ARRANGEMENT OF SCETIONS

   Section

   1.   Short title.

   2.   Interpretation.

   3.   Treaty to have force of law in Uganda.

   4.   Community to have capacity of a body corporate.

   5.   Transfer of rights and liabilities.

   6.   Financial provisions.

   7.   Immunities and privileges of employees.

   8.   Status, immunities and privileges of the Community.

   9.   Act of the community to have the force of law.

   10.   Adaptation of written laws.

   11.   Subsequent amendment of the Treaty.

   12.   Repeal of Act No. 28 of 1967.

      Schedule   Treaty for the establishment of the East African Community

EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY ACT.

   An Act to give the force of law in Uganda to the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community and to provide for other connected or incidental matters.

Commencement: 15 January, 2005.

WHEREAS the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community which is set out in the Schedule to this Act, was signed at Arusha, Tanzania on the 30th"> day of November, 1999 on behalf of the Governments of the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Kenya;

AND WHEREAS the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda ratified the Treaty on the 27th ">day of April, 2000, in accordance with article 123 of the Constitution, section 3 (b)(ii) of the Ratification of Treaties Act, 1998 and article 152 of the Treaty;

AND WHEREAS it is expedient to give the force of law to the Treaty in Uganda;

Now THEREFORE BE IT ENACTED by Parliament as follows:

1.   Short title

   This Act may be cited as the East African Community Act and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by statutory instrument* appoint.

2.   Interpretation.

   In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

   "Act of the Community" means an Act of the Community enacted in accordance with article 62 of the Treaty;

   "the Assembly" means the East African Legislative Assembly established by article 9 of the Treaty;

   "the Community" means the East African Community established by article 2 of the Treaty;

   "the Council" means the Council of the East African Community established by article 9 of the Treaty.

   "Gazette" means the Official Gazette of the Community;

   "institutions" means the institutions of the Community established by or under article 9 of the Treaty;

   "the Minister" means the Minister responsible for regional cooperation;

   "organs" means the organs established by article 9 of the Treaty;

   "Partner States" means the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and any other country granted membership to the Community under article 3 to this Treaty;

   "Secretariat" means the Secretariat of the Tripartite Commission established under article 6 of the Agreement for the Establishment of a Permanent Tripartite Commission for Cooperation between the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Kenya entered into on the 30th"> day of November, 1993;

   "the Treaty" means the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community dated 30th"> November 1999, and entered into by the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Uganda, and the Republic of Kenya which is set out in the Schedule to this Act, and as from time to time amended under any provision of the Treaty or otherwise modified.

3.   Treaty to have force of law in Uganda.

   (1) The Treaty as set out in the Schedule to this Act shall have the force of law in Uganda.

   (2) Without prejudice to the general effect of subsection (1) of this section, all rights, powers, liabilities, obligations and restrictions from time to time created or arising by or under the Treaty and all remedies and procedures from time to time provided for by or under the Treaty, shall be recognised and available in the law and be enforced and allowed in Uganda.

4.   Community to have capacity of a body corporate.

   (1) The Community shall have the capacity, within Uganda, of a body corporate with perpetual succession and shall have power to acquire, hold, manage and dispose of land and other property and to sue and be sued in its own name.

   (2) The Community shall have power to perform any of the functions conferred upon it by the Treaty and to do all things, including borrowing, that are in the opinion of the Council necessary or desirable for the performance of those functions.

   (3) Subsection (2) of this section relates only to the capacity of the Community as a body corporate and nothing in that subsection shall be construed as authorising the disregard by the Community of any law as affecting any power of the Community conferred by any law.

5.   Transfer of rights and liabilities.

   (1) All the property of the Secretariat immediately before the commencement of this Act shall, as from the date of commencement of this Act, vest in the Community and as from that date, the Community shall have all the rights which the Secretariat has and be subject to all the liabilities to which the Secretariat is subject, immediately before that date.

   (2) On and after the commencement of this Act, every contract made in writing by or on behalf of the Secretariat whether or not of such a nature that rights and liabilities under it could be assigned by the Secretariat, shall have effect as if made by or on behalf of the Community and as if references in it to the Secretariat and to any officer or authority of the Secretariat were replaced, in relation to anything falling to be done on or after the commencement of this Act, by reference to the Community and to the corresponding officer or authority of the Community.

   (3) Without prejudice to the general effect of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the Community and any other person or authority shall have similar rights, powers and remedies (including in particular, rights and powers as to instituting or defending legal proceedings) for ascertaining, perfecting or enforcing any rights or liabilities vested in or attaching to them by virtue of this section as if the rights or liabilities have at all times been rights and liabilities of the Community or of that person or authority.

   (4) Any proceedings by or against the Secretariat pending immediately before the commencement of this Act may be continued by or against the Community.

6.   Financial provisions.

   (1) There shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund, without further appropriation than this Act, all payments required to be made from time to time by the Government under the terms of the Treaty.

   (2) Subject to article 159 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, for the purposes of providing any sums required for making payments under this section, the Minister responsible for finance may, on behalf of the Government, make such arrangements as are necessary or raise loans by creation and issue of securities bearing such rates of interest and subject to such conditions as to repayment, redemption or otherwise as the Minister thinks fit; and the charges and expenses incurred in connection with their issue shall be charged on and issued out of the Consolidated Fund.

   (3) Any moneys received by the Government under the Treaty shall be paid into and form part of the Consolidated Fund and shall be available in any manner in which the Consolidated Fund is available.

7.   Immunities and privileges of employees.

   (1) Persons employed in the service of the Community shall—

   (a)   be immune from civil process with respect to acts performed by them in their official capacity; and

   (b)   be accorded such immunities from immigration restrictions and alien registration as the Partner States may determine.

   (2) Experts and consultants rendering services to the Community shall be accorded such immunities and privileges as may be agreed by the Partner States.

8.   Status, immunities and privileges of the Community.

   (1) The Community shall be accorded such status, capacity, immunities, privileges and exemptions as may be agreed upon by the Partner States.

   (2) Members of the organs and institutions of the Community shall be accorded such immunities and privileges as may be agreed upon by the Partner States.

9.   Act of the community to have the force of law.

   (1) The provisions of any Act of the Community shall, from the date of publication of that Act in the Gazette, have the force of law in Uganda.

   (2) An Act of the Community shall come into operation on the date of its publication in the Gazette or, if it is provided in that Act that some or all of its provisions shall come into operation on some other date (whether before or after the date of publication), those provisions shall come into operation on that other date.

   (3) An Act of the Community passed under this section shall be laid before the table of Parliament.

10.   Adaptation of written laws.

   (1) The Attorney General may, by Order published in the Gazette, at any time before the expiration of 24 months from the commencement of this Act, make such amendments and adaptations to any written law as may appear to the Attorney General necessary or expedient for bringing that written law into conformity with the provisions of the Treaty or otherwise for giving effect or enabling effect to be given to those provisions.

   (2) An Order made under this section shall be laid before Parliament as soon as practicable after it is published in the Gazette.

11.   Subsequent amendment of the Treaty.

   Where after the commencement of this Act, the Treaty is amended or modified in accordance with the provisions of article 150 of the Treaty, and ratified under article 123 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, the Minister shall cause a copy of the amendment or modification to be laid before Parliament; and the amendment or modification shall, for the purposes of this Act, come or be deemed to have come into operation on the date it is laid before Parliament.

12.   Repeal of Act No. 28 of 1967.

   The East African Community Act, 1967 is repealed.

Schedule.

The Treaty for the establishment of the East African Community

PREAMBLE

WHEREAS the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania have enjoyed close historical, commercial, industrial, cultural and other ties for many years;

AND WHEREAS formal economic and social integration in the East African Region commenced with, among other things, the construction of the Kenya Uganda Railway 1897–1901, the establishment of the Customs Collection Centre 1900, the East African Currency Board 1905, the Postal Union 1905, the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa 1909, the Customs Union 1919, the East African Governors Conference 1926, the East African Income Tax Board 1940 and the Joint Economic Council 1940;

AND WHEREAS provision was made by the East Africa (High Commission) Orders in Council 1947–1961, the East African Common Services Organisation Agreements 1961–1966, and the Treaty for East African Cooperation 1967 for the establishment respectively, of the East Africa High Commission, the East African Common Services Organisation and the East African Community as successive joint organisations of the said countries to control and administer certain matters of common interest and to regulate the commercial and industrial relations and transactions between the said countries and by means of a central legislature to enact on behalf of the said countries laws relevant to the purposes of the said Joint organisations;

AND WHEREAS in 1977 the Treaty for East African Cooperation establishing the East African Community was officially dissolved, the main reasons contributing to the collapse of the East African Community being lack of strong political will, lack of strong participation of the private sector and civil society in the cooperation activities, the continued disproportionate sharing of benefits of the Community among the Partner States due to their differences in their levels of development and lack of adequate policies to address this situation;

AND WHEREAS upon the dissolution of the East African Community the said countries signed on the 14th"> day of May, 1984, at Arusha, in Tanzania the East African Community Mediation Agreement 1984, hereinafter referred to as "the Mediation Agreement" for the division of the assets and liabilities of the former East African Community;

AND WHEREAS pursuant to Article 14.02 of the Mediation Agreement the said countries agreed to explore and identify areas for future co-operation and to make arrangements for such co-operation;

AND WHEREAS on the 30th"> day of November, 1993, provision was made by the Agreement for the Establishment of a Permanent Tripartite Commission for Co-operation Between the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania for the establishment of the Permanent Tripartite Commission for Cooperation hereinafter referred to as "the Tripartite Commission" to be responsible for the coordination of economic, social, cultural, security and political issues among the said countries and a Declaration was also made by the Heads of State of the said countries for closer East African Co-operation;

AND WHEREAS on the 26th"> day of November, 1994, provision was made by the Protocol on the Establishment of a Secretariat of the Permanent Tripartite Commission for Co-operation Between the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania, for the establishment of the Secretariat of the Permanent Tripartite Commission for Cooperation Between the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania to act as the Secretariat of the Tripartite Commission, hereinafter referred to as "the Secretariat of the Tripartite Commission";

AND WHEREAS on the 29th"> day of April 1997 at Arusha in Tanzania, the Heads of State of the said countries after reviewing the progress made by the Tripartite Commission, in the development of closer co-operation between the said countries in the fiscal, monetary, immigration, infrastructure and service fields and after approving the East African Cooperation Development Strategy for the period 1997–2000, directed the Tripartite Commission to embark on negotiations for the upgrading of the Agreement establishing the Tripartite Commission into a Treaty;

AND WHEREAS the said countries, with a view to strengthening their cooperation are resolved to adhere themselves to the fundamental and operational principles that shall govern the achievement of the objectives set out herein and to the principles of international law governing relationships between sovereign states;

AND WHEREAS the said countries, with a view to realising a fast and balanced regional development are resolved to creating an enabling environment in all the Partner States in order to attract investments and allow the private sector and civil society to play a leading role in the socio-economic development activities through the development of sound macroeconomic and sectoral policies and their efficient management while taking cognisance of the developments in the world economy as contained in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation, 1995 referred to "as the WTO Agreement" and as may be decided by the Partner States, the development of technological capacity for improved productivity;

AND WHEREAS the said countries desire to foster and to promote greater awareness of the shared interests of their people;

AND WHEREAS the said countries are resolved to act in concert to achieve the objectives set out hereinbefore;

Now THEREFORE the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania;

DETERMINED to strengthen their economic, social, cultural, political, technological and other ties for their fast balanced and sustainable development by the establishment of an East African Community, with an East African Customs Union and a Common Market as transitional stages to and integral parts thereof, subsequently a Monetary Union and ultimately a Political Federation;

CONVINCED that cooperation at the sub-regional and regional levels in all fields of human endeavour will raise the standards of living of African peoples, maintain and enhance the economic stability, foster close and peaceful relations among African states and accelerate the successive stages in the realisation of the proposed African Economic Community and Political Union;

AGREE AS FOLLOWS:

CHAPTER ONE
INTERPRETATION

Article 1
Interpretation

1.   In this Treaty, except where the context otherwise requires—

   "Act of the Community" means an Act of the Community in accordance with this Treaty;

   "Audit Commission" means the Audit Commission established by Article 134 of this Treaty;

   "Assembly" means the East African Legislative Assembly established by Article 9 of this Treaty;

   "Bill" means a Bill of the East African Legislative Assembly;

   "civil society" means a realm of organised social life that is voluntary, self generating, self-supporting, autonomous from the state, and bound by a legal set of shared rules;

   "Clerk of the Assembly" means the Clerk of the East African Legislative Assembly appointed under Article 48 of this Treaty;

   "common carrier" includes a person or an undertaking engaged in the business of providing services for the carriage of goods and passengers for hire and operating as such under the laws of a Partner State;

   "common external tariff" means an identical rate of tariff imposed on goods imported from third countries;

   "Common Market" means the Partner States' markets integrated into a single market in which there is free movement of capital, labour, goods and services;

   "common standard travel document" means a passport or any other valid travel document establishing the identity of the holder, issued by or on behalf of the Partner State of which he or she is a citizen and shall also include interstate passes;

   "Community" means the East African Community established by Article 2 of this Treaty;

   "Contracting Parties" means the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania;

   "co-operation" includes the undertaking by the Partner States in common, jointly or in concert, of activities undertaken in furtherance of the objectives of the Community as provided for under this Treaty or under any contract or agreement made there under or in relation to the objectives of the Community;

   "Co-ordination Committee" means the Co-ordination Committee established by Article 9 of this Treaty;

   "Council" means the Council of Ministers of the Community established by Article 9 of this Treaty;

   "Counsel to the Community" means the Counsel to the Community provided for under Article 69 of this Treaty;

   "countervailing duty" means a specific duty levied for purposes of offsetting a subsidy bestowed directly or indirectly upon the manufacture, production or export of that product;

   "Court" means the East African Court of Justice established by Article 9 of this Treaty;

   "customs clearing agent" means a person who is licensed in any of the Partner States to provide a service at a fee, in connection with documentation and customs clearance of import and export of consignments of goods;

   "designated airline" means an airline which has been designated and authorised by a competent authority of a Partner State to operate the agreed services;

   "duty drawback" means a refund of all or part of any excise or import duty paid in respect of goods confirmed to have been exported or used in a manner or for a purpose prescribed as a condition for granting duty drawback.

   "East African Industrial Development Strategy" means the strategy provided for under Article 80 of this Treaty;

   "East African Law Reports" means the published reports of the judgements of the former Court of Appeal for East Africa and the High Courts of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania;

   "East African Trade Regime" means a trade regime provided for under Article 74 of this Treaty;

   "elected member" means an elected member of the Assembly elected under Article 50 of this Treaty;

   "environment" means the natural resources of air, water, soil, fauna and flora, eco-systems, land, the man-made physical features, cultural heritage, the characteristic aspects of the landscape and the socio-economic interaction between the said factors and any living and non-living organisms;

   "equitable distribution of benefits" means fair and proportionate distribution of benefits;

   "financial year" means the financial year referred to under Article 132 of this Treaty;

   "foreign country" means any country other than a Partner State;

   "freight forwarder" means a person engaged at a fee, either as an agent for other transport operators or on his own account, in the management of transport services and related documentation;

   "Gazette" means the Official Gazette of the Community;

   "gender" means the role of women and men in society;

   "Head of Government" means a person designated as such by a Partner State's Constitution;

   "Head of State" means a person designated as such by a Partner State's Constitution;

   "import" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means to bring or cause to be brought into the territories of the